Rejected No More: Kneel Before The Luna You Betrayed

Seraphina's POV:

The air stank of blood.

"Gamma Layla! Defend the northern breach!" I screamed into the comms.

That opening was the last narrow point in the Moonclaw Pack's assault on the rogue leader. Keeping it secured would leave him with nowhere to escape.

Instead of Layla Edwards's response, only a dead silence came through the comms.

I turned around and found the area Layla had been ordered to protect completely deserted.

That brief distraction gave the rogue leader his chance. He released a sharp howl and focused on Brayden Clayton, my Alpha mate. Black fur flashed across my vision as it struck him with savage force.

"Brayden, move!" Instinct drove me straight into shielding Brayden with my own body.

Flesh ripped with a sickening sound as the rogue's venomous claws tore deep into my stomach. Blinding agony exploded through my body and burned along every nerve.

Blood poured freely from the injury, and darkness slowly clouded the edges of my sight.

Before I lost consciousness, I caught one last glimpse of Brayden. He never reached for me. His steps had already carried him toward Layla, and he gathered her into his arms instead.

...

The violent shaking of a gurney brought me back as it raced along the hospital corridor.

"Luna's losing too much blood, and her uterus has suffered severe damage!" The doctor's distant voice carried over the noise. "We need authorization, so call her mate now! The baby is dying, and we need his permission before we decide how to operate. We can't proceed without his consent!"

One nurse struggled with the phone while trying to reach Brayden. Two calls rang without an answer.

Her third call connected for only a second before Brayden ended it.

Why would he do that? An agony worse than the injury in my stomach tore through my chest.

What could matter more to him than saving his mate and child?

Then voices from the television mounted on the wall reached me. A live report from the pack's press meeting filled the screen.

Brayden appeared before the cameras in a perfectly fitted black suit and carried himself with bright confidence. Layla stood at his side in a beautiful gown that made her impossible to overlook.

"Gamma Layla deserves every bit of praise for our victory," Brayden explained to the reporters. His eyes held a softness he had never once shown me. "When the battle reached its most dangerous moment, she changed everything in our favor. She's the real heroine of the Moonclaw Pack and my most trusted aide."

Layla pressed close to him with a shy expression.

That traitor had almost cost us the battle, yet she had stolen every honor I had earned and stood proudly in the attention that should have been mine.

Something deep within me broke at that moment.

No bone had snapped, and no new wound had opened. The bond that had tied me to Brayden for five years had finally torn apart.

Fury and shame swept through me beside the unbearable pain of watching him choose someone else. My weakened body couldn't endure all of it at once.

The monitor screamed a warning while medical staff hurried my gurney toward the operating room.

Panic filled the nurse's voice. "Doctor, how can we proceed? The patient's mate still won't answer us."

I used the last of my strength to seize the doctor's sleeve, and my nails bit into his skin. "I... don't have a mate."

"What? But..."

"You heard me! I don't have a mate!" I screamed as tears ran through the blood on my face. "Give me the papers... I'll sign them myself..."

Harsh lights burst to life above the operating table, and their glow looked like the fires of hell.

Cold instruments moved inside me. The tiny heartbeat that had quietly lived beneath my own grew weaker until it finally went still, and then the doctors took my child from me.

My baby had already developed into an Alpha boy. If he had lived long enough to be born, he might have inherited Brayden's deep eyes and carried the strongest bloodline in the entire Moonclaw Pack.

Our son died while his father abandoned him to celebrate with the woman he loved.

I lost track of time before they finally rolled me into a hospital room.

The anesthetic still hadn't faded. My lower body felt so numb that it no longer seemed connected to me, yet the emptiness inside my chest hurt badly enough to make me want to tear it apart.

My eyes returned to the screen, and memories from the past several years suddenly came back. Brayden had often blamed his late nights on work, and he always claimed that his private meetings with Layla concerned pack matters.

The truth was painfully clear now. Brayden had betrayed me.

How foolish I'd been to reject what had been right in front of me.

I watched as the press conference on TV neared its end.

Brayden and Layla remained locked in each other's embrace while the crowd showered them with praise.

Brayden reached into his pocket and removed a beautifully crafted box before speaking with deep affection. "Layla deserves a reward for everything she did today, so I've chosen to give her the Moon Tear."

My eyes widened in sudden shock.

He was holding the Moon Tear. My mother had left that necklace as her only heirloom, and it represented every Luna who had ever led the Moonclaw Pack.

There was nothing I could do as Brayden placed the necklace around Layla's delicate neck. That precious piece carried my family's honor, yet he handed it to another woman without hesitation.

Layla ran her fingers over the pendant before lifting herself onto her toes and kissing Brayden deeply.

He made no attempt to stop her. His arm circled her waist instead, and he drew her even closer as the kiss became more passionate.

Something deep inside my soul broke beyond repair at that moment.

I'd finally endured enough.

My eyes fell shut, and I made no effort to hold back my tears.

The mate bond between Brayden and me had once carried such warmth, but now I felt it turn cold.

Brayden believed he'd only gotten rid of a woman who weighed him down.

He'd soon learn exactly what his own choices cost him.

Starting that day, I wasn't his Luna or his mate anymore.